It was back in 2010, that the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) started the Ananda Hindi Natya Utsav. The impetus being to give a platform to Hindi theatre groups, who usually struggle to stage their plays in the city owing to a lack of venues. Seven years on, the Ananda Hindi Natya Utsav this year will feature five new plays across diverse genres.
Homeless angst
Written by songstress and actor Ila Arun and directed by well-known actor K.K. Raina, Chhota Kashmir , which kick-starts the festival depicts the plight of Kashmiris in India. The story unravels through a telephonic conversation between a grandfather, who lives in the valley and his grandson, an aspiring actor, who stays in ‘Chhota Kashmir’ in Mumbai. The play highlights both the plight of the homeless Kashmiri Pandit and the adversities faced by artistes in the city of dreams.
“I have many friends who came from the valley to Mumbai to realise their acting dreams,” recalls Arun. “I was so deeply influenced by their trials and tribulations that I decided to weave their story into the play. When I shared the idea with K.K. Raina, initially he was taken aback,” she says.
Arun realised that the events in the valley had left such an indelible impact on Raina and her other friends, that they didn’t want to talk about it. “They were so hurt and depressed that they didn’t want to raise their voice while others weren’t bothered. I felt it was all the more necessary to write this play,” she asserts. The story revolves around eight strugglers, three of whom have been modelled on Arun’s friends, including Raina.
Conflicts and bonds
The other plays being staged at the three-day festival, show similar intricacies of human relationships and explore how mankind deals with individuality, god and life partners. For instance, Traffic , a play penned by Prayag Dave and directed by Hussaini Dawawala, tackles vehicular traffic that plagues Indian metropolitan cities today. The production draws parallels between road traffic situations and how the common man has to unwillingly follow regulations laid down by society, sometimes ending up as a mute spectator.
Writer-director Nitin Bharadwaj’s satire Ek Rupaiya , shows what happens when a child commits theft in a temple and how his love for god turns into fear, thereby focusing on the commercialisation of religion. Veena Bakshi’s Bus...Tum aur Hum, on the other hand, examines the idiosyncrasies of marriage in a humorous vein. Revolving around an upwardly mobile couple who have been married for 22 years, the story shows what keeps a man and a woman together for so long. Is it habit or love?
The critically-acclaimed Marathi production Sangeet Bari , which delves into the lives of Lavani artistes, will also have its Hindi premiere at the festival. Unlike a normal play that features only performances, this piece combines multiple narratives of the lavani dancers and musicians talking about their struggle along with live performances. Writer Bhushan Korgaonkar says, “The performers communicate with the audience through their singing, abhinaya and dance sequences. Along with director Savitri Medhatul, I reveal the various facets of their journey through stories. After enjoying immense success in Marathi, we decided to stage it in Hindi as we wanted to reach out to more audiences.”
Deepa Gahlot, head of theatre programming at the NCPA, says all the earlier plays staged at this festival have gone on to become commercial successes. “With markets opening up not just in Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh but also in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Hindi theatre groups have been able to cater to newer audiences,” she asserts.
Ananda Hindi Natya Utsav: Festival of Hindi Plays will be staged at the Godrej Dance Theatre and Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point from May 5-7. For more details see: bookmyshow.com
